The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1887-05-11
A TERRIBLE Fix.
by JOHN DE MORGAN.

u
get out of the difficulty"
Handsome BERTHE Raymond paced up
and down the floor of his law Office in
Broadway, like Gagged lion anxious to get
loose. He was in fix, fof Handsome
BERTHE, as he was called, was the pet of
society, the idol of the ladies', and the be-
loved of at least two of the fair sex.
And the fix, unpleasant enough to cause
The perspiration to pour from every pore of
his body, was IN relation TO those two
ladies. He had compromised himself with
each. There was charming Polly Glynn,
whose winsome ways had 90 won on
Berries affections that he had all but
popped the question" We say all but,
for Pollys young brother rushed into the
room just as BERTHE was about to ask the
charming Polly to share all his wealth,
which was about twenty dollars, and glad
den his life.
Polly Glynn was in love with BERTHE, and
as he was handsome and lawyer, albeit
without practice, and she was rich, the
match was desirable one. So at least
thought Polly.
But BERTHE thought he had luckily es-
capped, for there was the stately queen of
society, Maud Travers, who was desper-
ately in love with him, and who owned a
brown stone mansion on Madison avenue,
and had private banking account, indie
pendent of her mothers millions, for Maud
was the daughter of a millionaire widow.
BERTHE had made love to Polly and Maud,
but if the truth be told, it was merely lip
service. He liked the girls rarely" he
told himself and could be comfortable
with either, but as for love, why-no, not
exactly"
The attraction was the money, and as
! Maud possessed the biggest amount she
was to be the chosen one in his own good
time.
BERTHE Baymonds fix was occasioned by
his own carelessness.
Usually he was SO very precise and care
| full that no mistake could occur. But on
this particular morning, he had call from
an old lady who wished him to attend to
! her law business. This put Raymond all
in O futter, for clients were very rare
visitors.
He had written three letters and mailed
! two of them, the third lay in his desk and
was the cause of his excitement.
He had written one letter to Dearest
Maud" in which he had poured forth his
soul. and told his love III impassioned
strains.
Things were getting desperate, and so
he had determined to end the suspense
and get married to the wealthy beauty. A
second letter was to Polly, and TO her he
also told his love, how he regretted the
intrusion just at an eventful moment, and
wound up his letter with expressions of
endearment, but without directly proposing.
The third letter we will read. 1t read as
follows:
DEAR DAM am in a devil of a fix.
| Will you lend me five hundred for month";
Those cursed sharpers are after me, and i
shall 60 into Ludlow Street unless l can
pay up. 1t looks black for me. If you
1 \ a.. NtN1N ,..,1.
for l shall bag the heiress within a month.
1t will be like living with an iceberg, but
her gold will help to warm life elsewhere,
so, as 1 cannot have all, l must not COM
plain. She is dying with love for me, and
brown stone, carriages, and at least hun
dred thousand will drop into my mouth all
at one bite. Yours ever, BERTHE"
The letters were sealed, and the office
boy sent out to mail those to the ladies; the
other was kept for further elaboration.
"By Jove! Ill ask Dan to dinner, and
talk over the heiress, and I'll be sure to get
the loan," he said as soon as his client had
left.
Taking up the envelope he opened it to
add postscript to the letter, when, to his
astonishment, he read
MY dearest Polly"
He had sent the letter intended for Dan
O'Brien to one of the ladies.
But to whom?
That was the dilemma.
Whichever got the letter would think
she was the insulted one.
"What can | do?" he asked again.
Il have it," he cried out, loud enough to
make the clerks in a nearby Office think
their neighbor must have taken leave OF his
senses.
BERTHE put on his hat and rushed breath
lessly to the nearest Western Union Office.
TO each of the fair ones he telegraphed
Burn my letter unopened, will explain"
"Both ladies are honorable" he thought,
sand will at once destroy the letter; but
what if my telegram be too late?"
The cold perspiration broke out again,
and BERTHE Raymond cursed his careless
folly.
Ill-luck attended him, for some repairs
were being executed and the telegraph
operator delayed the messages for two
! hours. Early in the evening he called at
the palatial home of Maud Travers.
She received him with stateliness. For
some time he conversed with her on general
topics, not daring to refer to the letter. At
last be mustered up courage and asked:
did you receive my telegram
"No, did you send one?"
His heart palpitated rapidly, what could
have become of it?
zone came for mamma about two hours
ago."
Might / see it,"
"You can see the envelope. Mamma was
out, and so it has not been opened"
BERTHE looked at the envelope and saw il
was addressed to Mrs. Travers.
The stupid operator had sent it to Mrs.
instead of Miss.
Did you get letter from me?"
"Yesl" coldly.
cit was all mistake" he commenced.
eyes, thought So"
Nothing more could he get from her, so
he fastened his departure. 1t was yet
early, and he would risk all by calling on
Polly Glynn.
No sooner had BERTHE left Miss Travers
than she burst into tears.
"Oh, why was L so cold to him2 Poor
fellow, he loves me so much that he gets
confused. What right had l to be cold
when it was his love which caused him to
send me a law document instead of a let
teri Perhaps that telegram would explain.
/ will open it. Yes, there it is: Burn my
letter unopened Poor fellow, / will
| write him a nice letter and inclose him the